My latest print, Blueberry Pie is a multi-block and reduction print. Two of the blocks were reduced to create an additional color (five total) and therefore the edition is limited to 18. Printed on Kitakata, a cream-colored Japanese paper, the image size measures 8 x 5″. This print is now available for purchase.

As many of my followers know already, besides being an artist, teaching art, I’m also a foodie and have created several recipe prints. This one, however, is the first colored print in that series. The blueberry pie my mother would turn out from the blueberries we picked near Ely, MN can only be described as heavenly. Served up warm from the oven, with a healthy dose of vanilla ice cream, it was worth the fight of bugs and fear of meeting a bear who would no doubt reap the benefits of a tossed bucket of berries. The recipe called for a good dose of lemon juice adding to the tartness of the wild blueberries.

I now live in a town that translated from the Objiwe language means “blueberry” – Menahga, MN so it seemed only natural that the first colored print honor that little orb of blueness. The blueberries grow here as well, but the memories of picking 13 gallons, sorting them and making a pie, muffins, and pancakes reside with the days of my younger self.

The 100 Day project is now over and I feel accomplished in that I was able to complete what I did during that time. While I basically explored during this project, I managed to make 2 Coptic bound books, create about 20 plexiglass plates and started another box based on the Victorian sewing box. I also worked on several versions of the Spirit tree. That tree may never be exhausted or purged as I thought it might.

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The project led me to create images I am quite pleased with even in the initial trial stages of printing them. My years of working in restaurants and kitchens along with my newest journey of cooking using ingredients that are part of my weight loss journey are The images are test prints that I pulled as part of the beginning of the “kitcsch”en prints. I may run some as a group and Louann came up with a great name for those, “Rebus Recipes.”

I’ve started a series of prints that I am calling “Kitsch-en” Prints. The image size is 3 x 3 inches and will be printed on a variety of papers sized 5 x 5″. I created several plates on plexiglass and will be running them through my etching press in the near future. These will be available for sale in the near future. I may make some available as recipe sets or complete editions.

One of the four projects is completed. Or you could add in that I created a pattern for a stained glass window of the Spirit Tree that my dad made. The book is predominately finished, but I am tempted to add a few words. They would be bold, handwritten using a Lyra graphite stick. Photos below.

What I like about the book are the little bits and pieces that remind me of different people to numerous to mention and all of us working to make ends meet, hang on to our little pink houses and employ creative outlets to try and survive the insanity of our times.

I thought I would share a video of one part of the 100-Day project. I have four projects that I am currently working on (in addition to several at school); this book, a collapsible artwork based on a Victorian Sewing Box, a painting, and a block print. This will be a six signature Coptic bound artist book. It’s has very few words, but what’s there is part of the artwork vs. a storyline. The book has been an exploration of “home” and our political times and how the two have interrupted the lives of all of us in ways that we shouldn’t be. Division, financial insecurity, insecurity of our freedoms, etc.

I’m a little over a month in on the 100 Day project and through the course of generating more and more houses using materials on hand (including old print proofs, telephone books, and patterns) One of the old print proofs was titled, “What’s behind Door #23?” That’s when “#” stood for a number, not a way to “tag” a name or a term. Anyway, I’ve worked through a lot of what is unfolding in this story and I seem to question the saying, “Home is where the heart is.” Not sure if that always applies in ways we think it should. What if the heart is where a home was?

Moving forward, I have a few more pages to complete for the inside of the bound book and then will need to start “building the house.” I tested a plexiglass print using the laser engraver for the students. Go figure it was “the tree.” But I am extremely happy with the results of that using my Ravi Press.

The pink houses have now taken on more variety and I’ve allowed other colors to join in the fun. However, I’ve kept the palette limited but the additional colors have started generating enough ideas to create two projects. One will be a hand bound book using a bookbinders board without any covering. I have laser engraved on the cover with the theme, but I may change that as I am not sure about the raw look of the cardboard. I’m not opposed to it, but it feels like it should be more polished. When I used some gouache on the prototype, it curled quite a bit and despite trying to balance the tension I’m hesitant to use any significant amount of paint.

For the inside of the book, I am using old prints proofs and drawings. The process of repurposing them for the foundation pages and for cutouts of houses is extremely satisfying. I’ve been needing to clean my flat files for a while and they are providing an arsenal of suitable materials. It’s a fairly free exploration and it will be a one of a kind artwork that is probably more therapeutic for me than anything.

I’ve also been looking at a book that was withdrawn from some library called “Politics in Art.” Written by Joan Mondale probably in the 70’s, Mondale is a Minnesotan and the daughter of Walter Mondale of political fame. This project is less subtle in terms of a political viewpoint, but the idea of Pink Houses connects and so there it is, nonetheless.

The other project is based on some boxes I have made in the past. One was designed for a graduate level Graphic Design class and the other was designed with a friend in mind who recently passed away. In that box, I included the poem Desiderata which he introduced me to. It’s a lovely poem and you can read further down on this page. Using the Victorian Sewing box pattern, I’ll be using tar paper (a reference to a phrase my dad would say to my mom about tarpaper shacks) and will use the simple house form. I’ve used tarpaper before for a mural I created for a theatrical backdrop for the play “AH” written by my friend Jen Gerhadts.

Desiderata

written by Max Ehrmann
Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.